African Herd

Another new piece.

Dr. Who?

The most agonizing decision when you move to a new city is where to send your child to jail. I mean, school. Then, after you've picked a few candidates, you have to apply and wait for a decision (unless you are lucky enough to live where the public schools rock -- we don't). We were sooooo lucky to find a great Montessori school that loved us and Girlie right back. Then I had to find a veterinarian. Not for Girlie, she's next, but for my pooches who have to be boarded when we go on vacation and need a good vet and a good boarding place for that matter. Since we are going on vacation before Girlie goes back to school, that took precedence over finding a pediatrician. Now that's done too. Yay. So then I went trolling for pediatricians in our area. I found one who is a woman doctor and mother of three young girls. Sounds perfect but more importantly, Girlie saw her picture and immediately thought that she looked nice. So we went. The nurse was probably six feet tall, African American and very friendly but Girlie could only see that she did not match the picture on the website. "Who are you?" Girlie demanded, fearful that a switcheroo had occurred. The nurse explained and Girlie relaxed. Then the doctor came in. Now, have you ever been guilty of never updating your ten year old business head shot? I have and I think perhaps our doctor had too. She is a very attractive (more importantly competent) doctor who did not at all resemble her picture. Girlie cried. And cried. And then she wept. It took several minutes to calm her down. She was nervous to begin with and I guess she just thought that this stranger doctor couldn't possibly be as nice as the doctor in the picture. Who knows. Luckily, said doctor is indeed the mother of three young girls and she handled Girlie like a pro. Now Girlie is happy, I have the medical forms for school in hand AND IT'S ONLY JULY!!! I have never been so on top of my game. We may even get a dentist visit in soon.

Dance Fever

Today, for the first time in months, my daughter put on socks. Not for wearing with shoes, however. She only wears Crocs (ugh) in the summer months. She informed me that after a day and a half of playing Dance Dance Revolution (Mario version), she needed to cushion her feet. She's been stomping away non-stop in the back bedroom (now known officially as Girlie's playroom) and like the rest of the house, it has hardwood floors so her tootsies are sore. We've had the game for awhile and I've watched as Girlie and her cousins and friends feverishly "dance" in time with the music. But it's really just stomping. Have you noticed? Kids stomp on the dance mat as if they were crushing giant cockroaches (so she is actually developing a good skill for Miami). No doubt it's great exercise. Hubby and I have had more than one late night dance-off and I've come down late at night and found Hubby sans shirt dancing up a sweat with the blinds open and everything. Sorry neighbors. It hasn't happened in our new neighborhood yet but it's only a matter of time. They've got the fever, my family. Watch out cockroaches.

News and Updates and Fresh Promises

So I'm going to blame moving to Miami for my departure of late from blogging. Now we have been here a month and I'm thinking it's time to get back on the bandwagon. In the meantime: I have been in a wedding as a 45 year old bridesmaid (my daughter co-starred as a flower girl). I have had an art show in Miami. I found an art representative in Miami. My art is hanging at a gallery in Miami (thanks to the show and the representative). I've made new art (see one sample above). My last book, Letters From A Dead Armadillo got a 5 star review on Amazon from Midwest Review of Books. And of course I moved. We didn't sell our old house in Tampa. Instead we rented it to a lovely military couple and their kids for the next three years. Best highlight from the wedding? The lead singer for the Temptations and his latest group performed Motown hits and all the dance moves that go along with it a la The Temptations. It was truly a huge wedding with no detail ignored. One for the record books, my friends.

Award Winning Artist...

So I won my first prize in an art show over the weekend. Best of Show/Second Place. I'd be a big fat liar if I said that I wasn't excited. Yay me! In other news: our house is on the market as of last week. That means I have to keep it clean. (Sound of laughter.) So far, so good. It has never looked prettier. But I can't wait until we move out of it and I don't have to be so obsessive about cleaning up after my nine-year-old. We've had three showings and some possible interest so I'm not as discouraged as I thought I'd be in the current housing market. Wish us luck.

Westminster

www.wendyboucher.com Here it is. I found the cord and uploaded my latest artwork completed this week. It's called Westminster (rather than Big Ben, right?)

I'm so sorry Mr. Bergdorf

I spent a Hen Weekend in New York City this past weekend. Okay, the bride is British so that's what it's called instead of a bachelorette weekend. We, the bridesmaids, took her to Tony and Tina's Wedding for a what-not-to-do list on Friday night and then lamely went back to the hotel and to bed by 11. Really. That's what happens when your bridesmaids are 45ish like me. On Saturday, the more cultured of the maids went to see a standing-room-only production of La Boheme. That left me and the bride alone for most of the day. Heh, heh. We spent most of that time at Bergdorf Goodman trying on impossibly expensive dresses by Etro and other designers. So fun. I had just devoured the latest In Style magazine and saw all the same dresses on display at the store. We dined on the 7th floor overlooking Central Park and each had a glass and a half of wine. That's it. Why we suddenly thought everything at Bergdorf was hilarious I'll never know but we laughed our way from the hair salon to the flu shore (what it will always be called now that the Bride mixed up "Shoe Floor"). Yes, you had to be there. Saturday night is a fog. Yay, not so old after all. On Sunday we went on the Sex and the City tour where the highlight was a cupcake from an amazing bakery in the West Village. And then home. Sigh. Already planning my return trip.

Join me and many other artists this Saturday at the Tampa Artist Emporium from 5 to 9 for a big art mixer (i.e., wine will be served) celebrating the new artists at the gallery AND the grand unveiling of the charity wall. This month's charity artists represent the MacDonald Training Center and you have to see it to believe it. The artists are fantastic and several pieces of theirs have already sold! I will be there and I'm bringing my latest piece for a preview. It's called "Westminster" and if I could find my camera/computer cord, I'd post a picture of it for you. But you'll just have to come on down to the gallery in person. It's in Hyde Park Village across from B.T.'s Restaurant (right on the main drag). See you there!

The Best Day Ever

The best day ever was of course my birthday spent at the beach with Hubby and Girlie on Sunday. This picture is from last year because we never got around to shooting photos this time. The best "you had to be there" moment was when Girlie discovered that it only takes tossing one french fry into the air to attract about a thousand seagulls. This scared her a little but she still wanted to feed them. So she threw another fry in the air and then took off down the beach in a semi-panic while tossing french fry bits over her shoulder. There was a city block long flock of birds chasing after her and everybody was laughing so hard (and there were a lot of people because it's spring break and the beaches are packed). I haven't laughed so hard in ages. That was the best present. And in case you're curious, I'm 45. Exactly half way, if the palm reader at a party a few years ago knew her stuff.

Island (Fest) Girl

Davis Islands, a neighborhood in Tampa, has a yearly Islands Fest celebration and this year they are having an art show too. I am going to have a display at the show so if you are in Tampa the last Saturday in April, come by and say howdy.

Knock, knock. Who's there? Shoppers?

You've got to be kidding me. Two garage sale junkies knocked at my door today to see what I would be selling at Saturday's garage sale. Dogs freaked, I complained about leaving my computer, Girlie (well, she didn't notice) but this is exactly the kind of thing I hate about garage sales. NEVER AGAIN. Now, with my rant over, feel free to come by my house on Saturday and relieve me of some junk.

Something Exciting

I swore to myself that I would respect Girlie's privacy and not blog about her but let's face it, she's more interesting than me and has so much more to offer my blog. The latest: she wrote a letter to her Nana (my mom) and it started with a paragraph about how excited she is to move to Miami and after that she wrote that there was something else exciting! In a year or two, she's going to start puberty! Then, without further explanation, she returned to the subject of Miami. My mom is going to crack up when she gets that letter. By the way, Girlie is nine. Let's hope that it's more than a year or two (please, please, please...).

Myspace

I have recently updated my Myspace page with a nice photobucket slideshow. Check it out at: www.myspace.com/wendyboucher.

Yard Sale

www.wendyboucher.com I'm doing something I have always sworn I wouldn't ever do again. I'm having a sale at my house of junk that we are not going to move with us to Miami. Anybody need a footbath thingy that's only been used once? I can't imagine that anybody will want our junk but it's worth it for a few bucks that we can use to get our house ready to sell. I might be able to buy a plant for the front yard. So my week will be spent alternating between doing artwork, preparing for the sale, and working on the house. And playing Toontown. Don't know Toontown? Ask your ten year old. I don't have a new art piece to show you today but just to decorate the post, here's an old one. I'm donating this piece to a cancer charity fundraiser. Ciao for now.

Funny how it is

I used to be funny on my blog. Here's proof. Lately I've been art-centric and admittedly quite boring. I blame the fact that in the next two months I am: traveling to New York, traveling to California, having a garage sale, moving to Miami, bridesmaiding in a category 5 wedding (it's a society wedding that will be covered in a magazine), losing 10 pounds (see last list item), and there is still a little girl around here somewhere who likes me to feed her occasionally. So I'm busy in unusual ways and it's sapping my ability to blog correctly. But I will persevere! My art creativity (luckily) is not suffering. I'll just channel a smidge to the blog in the near future. Why the sudden perk-up? Somebody commented on my Market post and it reminded me that blogs are in fact public and somebody might actually look at it. So already you see improvement. See the linkies? Have a great day.

Artfully Yours

Friday night, we at at Six Tables Tampa, one of the finest culinary experiences one can have. Saturday night I went to the opening of Dominique Labauvie's sculpture exhibit in Tampa and tonight, we're going to hear the Baker's Dozen, an a capella group from Yale that my husband sang with when he was an undergraduate. Weekends don't get much more cultural around here. Yay!

Market

Here is my very latest piece, Market. I started it a couple of months ago and just finished it this week. I love it and if history is any indicator, it will sell right away. So far every image I've made from my trip to Africa has sold. It really was the trip of a lifetime in some ways and I guess my passion for travel shows when I work on Africa-based artwork. The top image is the piece and I threw in three detail shots too. Enjoy. If you want to see a larger image of this piece, go to my website at www.WendyBoucher.com.

Thing One and Thing Two

Such cute little babies. Bella on the left, Marty on the right. Wouldn't they be cuter without the giant "don't bark or I'll zap you collars?" Before you call in PETA, I'll tell you that they are made for little bitty doggies and I have them set at the lowest setting. I had to do it because the crankiest old bat in the universe lives nearby and has left all kinds of nasty messages on our machine about our dogs barking. The funny thing is, half the time she's complained, our dogs weren't even at home - they were being boarded while we were on vacation. I think it has taken her a long time to cotton on to the fact that there are about twelve dogs in the immediate neighborhood and many of them have barking habits and - here's the really funny part - her own little precious canine has been known to bark up a storm. But I want to be sure that my dogs are not contributing to the problem and thus the collars which work pretty well so long as the collar is fitted exactly right. Sometimes I think Marty just keeps on barking anyway: "Bark" "zap" "urch", "Bark" "zap" "urch" and so on. He's a little toughie. So what's this got to do with art or anything? Not much but I may turn that photo into an piece of art someday to commemorate Thing One and Thing Two.

Addendum to the Previous Post

Detail shot of Coach & Horses Coach & Horses I just posted about the above piece of artwork, Coach & Horses, but it occurred to me that I should throw in a detail photo so you can see the texture in the piece (which I love and is why I use paper instead of paint.)

Those who know me well, know that I'm a hopeless Anglophile. So it should come as no surprise that I am working on a London Series of artwork. The piece pictured here is my latest work in the series entitled, (surprise) Coach & Horses. Nobody loves a busy London pub more than I. So I had to capture one in my art. All paper and glue, as usual. It's pretty big, 36x30". I'm focusing on larger work lately both because I prefer it and it sells really well. This London Series will be featured in my September/October solo show at the Kotler Gallery in downtown Tampa. Want to see another? Okay. This one is called Covent Garden, London. It's 40x30" and it took me forever to complete. See all those railings? Phew. Now I'm working on a smaller piece that will be a wedding gift to my bestest friend in Tampa, H. She's British and happens to be the blond shopper in the Covent Garden piece above. That brunette is moi. After that I'm thinking of tackling a view of the parliamentary buildings as viewed from the South Bank. Stay tuned.